The Epic Games Website has news of the departure of Cliff Bleszinski, the design director that's long been one of the most public faces of the Unreal and Gears of War developer. The post includes kind words from his colleagues and no real indication of why this is happening besides CliffyB's comment that "it’s time for a much needed break." Here's the excerpt they share from Cliff’s personal note to his colleagues:

I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager, and outside of my sabbatical last year, I have been going non-stop. I literally grew up in this business, as Mike likes to say. And now that I’m grown up, it’s time for a much needed break.

I will miss the projects, the playtests, the debates, and most importantly, the people. Epic only hires the best of the best, and it has been a joy working with each and every one of you on a daily basis, whether you were hired weeks ago or decades ago. I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with a variety of disciplines, from code to art to marketing and PR – it’s been one big, rewarding learning experience. I’m confident that each project that is being built, whether at Epic, Chair, PCF, or Impossible will be top notch and will please gamers and critics alike.

Rattlehead wrote on Oct 3, 2012, 19:58:Lot's of haters here, all less successful.

You'd think he somehow wronged all of these people personally...

...yes, Gears of War is a least-common-denominator cash grab, but it's a successful cash grab that a lot of people (although, clearly, few here) seem to enjoy, and Cliff seemed to enjoy making it.

In the grand scheme of things, that's all you can really hope for. Best of luck to him in any future projects, haters be damned.

Basically this. Cliff worked on some of the most memorable games in my lifetime.

The dude has earned his ego, imo. Him and Tim Sweeney are old school, and you can't blame a company for focusing on a profitable platform. It's not like there was a vendetta against PC gaming, it's just that the Xbox provided the opportunity and Epic seized it. Gaming companies are businesses after all, and you are lying to yourself if you think any of these indie studios would say no to Sony or Microsoft if they were approached to make an exclusive, AAA title on their platform. Straight up.

Common sense aside, the original Unreal ranks among my top 10 all time. Fuck did that game set my imagination off wild. I enjoyed the hell out of Gears of War 1-3, and I barely played the online component outside of mostly friend-populated games or horde mode. They were the publisher of One Must Fall 2097, which I dumped endless hours into on my old 486 DX2 66Mhz. Beast game.

Love it or hate it, Gears of War is a triple-A title that pioneered a lot of things. Horde mode, the off-set third person perspective, an engaging (if shallow) storyline, and remarkable characters (whether or not you loved/hated them, they're memorable and invoke emotion).

And let's not forget Epics charity to the very hostile industry they are in. CliffyB >did< have a lot to do with this. Epic took under their wing a struggling studio (PCF) with a lot of talent but little direction. They then salvaged the big huge games clusterfuck by forming Epic Montreal and hiring most of the original team at BHG. That is some really stand-up shit in an industry full of volatility, hate, and a lack of creativity. Epic is a shining star in an industry populated by Zynga, EA, Activision... and we're out here roasting their lead designer because he's got a little bit of an ego? WTF? This fucker deserves props for his role in saving those jobs ALONE, not including his other contributions to the industry.

Honestly, what is there to hate aside from a dude who was pumped about his games and maybe a little over zealous about his skill and influence?

Aside from being someone who has old school roots, Cliffy was also a great marketing personality. Not unlike Steve Jobs, though I'm not comparing their achievements. They both knew how to get face time with the media and free attention to their titles. He used his outgoing and egotistical personality for that. Dude is vocal, gets material written on him for free, and gets interviews to spout marketing jive. Hate the game, not the player. What he did worked.